I had the itch to watch a movie by The Asylum the other day; at first I wanted to watch a creature feature but while looking at a list online I came upon "Airplane Vs. Volcano" so a disaster movie it was. And wow do I not regret it!
This is definitely one of Asylum's better movies; yes there were times when the effects and the acting could have been better, however, this film isn't quite as mindless as some of Asylum's masterpieces (and B-movies in general). Mind you, mindless is never a bad thing as sometimes one just needs to be entertained without needing to go into deep critical thinking (or any thinking at all). Naturally any science that is applied here is suspect; but at least the writers sounded like they tried to make it sound realistic enough.
What makes this movie rise above other movies like this is that it possesses two things that most of these kinds don't have: a soul and some genuinely heartbreaking moments that made you go "Why?! Why?! Why?!" until you remembered just what kind of movie this actually is. The writers definitely put more effort into the emotional side of the dangerous situation and it definitely put a smile on my face.
Another refreshing change was the military unit that was undoubtedly responsible for the survival or the death of the people on the plane that could do nothing but fly around and dodge the fireballs that the volcano was giving birth to all the while being stuck on autopilot. Rather than just being the generic bullies who threw their weight around just for the sake of proving themselves, they were varied with their personalities that ranged from the overeager Private (who could even be called downright adorable) to the Sergeant that risked punishment just for the sake of saving the people to the Colonel that was semi-reasonable despite his behavior regarding his own orders.
And it wouldn't be a disturbing movie without someone who was having some kind of psychological breakdown and was turning into the secondary antagonist who ended up being bitten hard by karma in the end.
There are definitely some humorous moments to balance out the terror of the situation; but the situation is certainly treated with the seriousness that it would warrant in the real world. It is a nice balance overall.
Do I recommend watching it? Absolutely! This is definitely one of Asylum's better films and one of the best disaster films over all.
Grade: A-
